GeePawHill is the internet moniker for Michael Hill. It turns out that there are a great many persons in the world named Michael Hill, even if one restricts it to those whose middle name starts with ‘D’.

When I realized that I rally wanted a ‘uniform’ tag on the net, I decided that ‘GPaHill’ was just perfect for uniqueness. Then, I realized that the secret club of pronouncing the ‘G’ as ‘gee’ and the ‘Pa’ as ‘Paw’ was one of only around ten-thousand ways to pronounce the tag. (Pronounceable names are a firm part of the refactoring mantra, and as it turns out, internet names.)

Ahhhh, you say. But you meant why GeePawHill in particular?

Oh, well, that’s easy. I wrote down every name I’d ever been called (affectionate names only, tho I must confess that rule didn’t entirely eliminate the expletives). I then spent a load of time procrastinating, because, hey, that’s just how I roll. Which made me think of ‘how I *role*’. Get it? I wrote down every role I’ve ever played and enjoyed, on and off the net, in and out of geekdom, whatever.

My writing career has included course materials, poetry, and no end of book projects that didn’t happen.

Then I got it. The best role I’ve ever played is unquestionably the role of grandfather to my 9 grandkids. Although there is no blood connection, I’ve been together with my wife, Virginia, since before they were born. She’s a grandmother to them, so naturally, I’m a grandfather to them. It is truly one of the great roles.

Three of the grandkid’s father was the one that shortened “Grandpa” to “GeePaw”. Nowadays, they mostly call us “GeePaw” and “GeeMaw”, tho sometimes its “Geeps” and “Geems”.